Compiled by Dr Stella Barrows,
briefing report for Sonic Investigators (DRAFT, report compiled in haste, notes
for further study by NISG team at end)
HISTORY
The
Castle Mound, outside the Higgins Museum, Bedford, is a Sounding Space replete
with great Historical significance. We gather from our advance party (and the
manager of the Museum who alerted us – a gentleman who looks favorably on the
cause of Sonic Geology) that the majority of sounds here are likely to be proto-historical. The Castle, built in
the early 1100s by Henry I, was a large medieval structure, which played a prominent
part in the First Baron’s War. The Castle’s final architectural iteration is somewhat
uncertain, but in 1224, following a disagreement with the notorious Gascon mercenary,
Sir Falkes de Breauté*, the castle was
laid siege to. Around 2,700 soldiers fought a two-month long pitched battle and
eventually, the castle was entirely demolished. It is testament to the
fortitude of the people of Bedford that the site remains commemorated and
flanked by swans. I particularly enjoyed the charming addition of the crenelated
dustbins surrounding the site.
This Sounding Space is somewhat
fittingly part of the ‘cultural quarter’ of the town. It is bordered by the
Higgins Museum, a converted Brewery. It is rumored that the ghosts of revelers
past can be divined within the walls here (NB. the result of possible conversational sonic activity?).
Nearby is located a museum devoted
to the preacher John Bunyan (author
of The Pilgrim’s Progress), The Panacea
Society (a space dedicated to a highly religious sect of women) and The Polish Church, formerly known as St Cuthbert’s, which has been the site
of worship since the eighth century (the current building was constructed in
the mid 1800s and presented to the Polish community of Bedford in 1974). Bells ringing
repeated changes (campanological sequences) would certainly have sounded from
the tower, although a more thorough investigation should be made into the pitch
of the bells in the present day. It is also close to Bedford's
principal church, St Paul's (just off the A6)
at the historic centre of the town. It is the Civic Church of the Borough of
Bedford and County of Bedfordshire and has a tall, iconic spire one of the
dominant features of the town.
GEOLOGY
The town is built on Oxford Clay,
a porous sedimentary layer, which has proved to be acoustically rich. Sonic
phenomena in the Bedford area are likely to have been generated by the movement
of subterranean water and the sedimentation of sound within alluvial deposits. Bedford
rests on The River Great Ouse, which runs near the sounding space, and
provided invaluable trade links as barges could navigate from The Wash on the
North Seas, right the way through to Bedford’s Town Centre. This enabled coal
and other supplies to be transported by water and coal wharfs would have lined
the banks of the river. One might surmise that if you had happened upon this
site in the 1800s you would have been presented with a somewhat rowdy and
avuncular scene.
PERCOLATED SONIC PHENOMENA:
Early investigations by NISG have
detected an exciting range of percolated sonic phenomena that
appear to have been generated during by clay diggers who worked by hand with
narrow bladed spades to collect clay ready to be used in the summer months in
order to make bricks.
These include:
Conversational
phenomena Voices
of workhouse labourers and foremen.
Melodic
phenomena
Singing and
work-song refrains.
Ambient
phenomena
Water, tool
sounds, hammers and picks, light industrial noise.
NOTE: Conversational, melodic and ambient
sonic phenomena arising from percolation of this sound-activity have
formed the basis of initial NISG explorations in this area. Echo type data
derived from proto-historic battles has been detected by Ear Trumpet
technology within the background sound profile of the Castle Mound
Sounding Space.
NOTE: There is a large urban Park in Bedford, in close proximity to
the Sounding Space retains many original features from its Victorian design and
construction, including a
cricket pavilion and bandstand which are both still in use.
NOTE: It is interesting to note that from 1941 to the end of WW2, the
BBC’s daily service was broadcast from Bedford.
*the car
manufacturer Vauxhall is named after the part of London bearing that name,
which in turn is named after Sir Falkes de Breauté
HISTORICAL EVENTS REQUIRING
FURTHER INVESTIGATION WITH POSSIBLE RELATION TO SONIC EMISSIONS:
Medieval Lime manufacture
The Panacea Society
Neolithic and Paleolithic flint remains
King Offa of Mercia (buried here, 796)
The American Band Leader, Glen Miller (?)
Railways
Victorian Expansion